I am not very fond of our guide. He seems to be more self-absorbed, taking pictures of himself and the surroundings, and anything but prepared. Especially when looking at and speaking to the other guides, it makes me question him. He doesn’t carry a map, like all the rest of them do. He reads the route from his phone, thank you, Google maps. He doesn’t want to include breaks, unless he needs them for a phone call, or when he’s high.
High on the mountain
Yesterday, during the first day of our trek, we stopped to have lunch. At arrival, there were two little houses on our left and on the right there was a wall made out of stone, where a ledge had been created, so that you could sit or drop your bag from your shoulders, without having to kneel down. In the wall, there was a small staircase which led to a terrace of grass, plastic tables and chairs, a few small houses, patio umbrellas and a canopy. When we sat down, I looked down to the path where we came from and saw him nibbling on something - me thinking, he was just getting his food. When he came over to sit with us, he told us that he just had some “Mad honey”, also known as a Nepalese drug that gets you very high. The rest of the trek, he took a lot more stops which - for me personally - was very nice. However I am not sure, but it did feel very irresponsible to take drugs, while you have the responsibility to take care of two hikers. Is this common in Nepal? Would he have taken the drugs if there was a more difficult path ahead of us? Should that make a difference? Especially when you haven’t done this track in years?
His way or the highway
He typically walks 200 meters ahead, maybe to make sure that there are no mules crossing our path on the narrow roads (?), but I wonder why we have to pay for a guide that is not guiding us? Jet said so as well, if we would fall off the cliff, he wouldn’t even know; which I’d imagine to be true.
He has such a high pace, it seems to be a race. Not sure who he is racing, but we weren’t particularly interested in participating.
On the first day he said that if we are struggling with the hike, we should let him know immediately. So, as Jet and I were struggling, we decided to let him know - but he wouldn’t hear of it. Even though we said we were very tired and we needed more breaks, he was pushing us to go further. “Only standing and drinking, then we go haha”, always with a big - and perhaps fake - smile. I’ve also made him aware that my backpack is very heavy and that I do not know if I am able to carry it all the way to the top. Do you think he has checked in with me, once? He hasn’t. He is a joke of a guide.
The times that we asked him what we could expect, he was only making “jokes”: “We go Nepalese flat”, he said. Well, let me tell you what Nepalese flat is: 100 meters up and 100 meters down, then climb stairs of 50 meters, turn the corner and climb down for the next 20 meters. I feel the need for a realist on this hike. Not someone who is going to sugarcoat it. Just tell me it will be a very heavy path, with a lot of ups and downs and keep giving updates on how much further we have to go. None of that.
Here to guide or to tour?
All day he is taking pictures and speaking Nepalese to his friends, from other groups, while we make assumptions on how many kilometers we still have left. Today we asked him how many hours were left for the hike. The third time, he just responded: I don’t know. He got snappy with us for taking too long; which I couldn’t fully appreciate.
Sorry Mom and Dad, I don’t mean to worry you. Please know, that everything is going to be fine ;)
